The Possibilities of the Impossible
by DarkFoxPriestess
Summary: Co-written with myself and Sasha Cartwright. Vlad gets turned into a teenager to get Maddie back but will he be able to or merely relive his teen years. Finished, everything in the one chapter, Rate and Review!


"Maddie! You know you love me!" Vlad called from the doorstep of the Fenton house.

"Go home, Vlad! I have a husband!" Maddie Fenton yelled back from the other side of the locked door.

"But Maddie!" Vlad whined.

"Don't make me call the police!" Maddie threatened.

Vlad sighed in despair and turned to leave just as Daniel Fenton walked up the stairs.

"Watch where you're going." Vlad growled as he shouldered Danny aside.

"I see your vows of love got you thrown out of the house again." Danny smirked as he walked up to the front door.

"Maybe I just decided it was time for me to leave, you young whippersnapper!" Vlad exclaimed his face flushing in embarrassment.

"Like age has anything to do with the fact that Mom doesn't like you." Danny scoffed.

"Daniel, if I were your age, I could have anything I wanted!" Vlad retorted.

"I know one thing you couldn't have," Danny smirked as he unlocked the door.

"What's that?" asked Vlad, annoyed by the boy, but curious as to the answer.

"Friends," answered Danny, opening the door and running inside.

"Kids now a days, no respect for their elders." Vlad mumbled as he began walking home.

"What would you do if you were a kid again, Vladimir?" Clockwork asked appearing in front of the billionaire.

"I would do just as I told Daniel." Vlad stated resolutely.

"I'm intrigued, Vlad. Let's see how long you can last when you are once again fourteen." Clockwork chuckled.

"What?" Vlad stuttered.

"When you wake up tomorrow you will be as you were when you were fourteen. Let's see how well you do in the world of teenagers." Clockwork challenged as he once again disappeared, leaving a very dumbfounded Vlad looking up at the night sky.

Vlad, with nothing else to do, decided to go back home to his mansion and Packers' memorabilia. Having walked to the Fenton house, Vlad now had to walk back. It seemed to be a much longer walk now that he no longer had the wind in his sails, thinking he could finally succeed in winning over his long time dream girl, Maddie Fenton. Fenton. The very name burned his tongue. One day, one day soon, Vlad Masters would have his day! However, right now, all he wanted to do was to go home and take a nap. Vlad stopped. Take a nap! No wonder Maddie would never love him. He was too old. Maybe this gift from Clockwork was just what he needed. Vlad walked home with a new spring in his step. He couldn't wait for the dawn.

By the time he arrived home, the moon hung high in the sky. However, despite his usual tiredness, Vlad couldn't contain his excitement. Tomorrow he would be the dapper young man he had once been. Maddie couldn't reject him like that, no matter how much she thought she loved Jack. For that matter, no one else could either. Vlad Masters had been rejected for the last time.

The next morning, Vlad woke to sunlight coming through his bedroom window, but, as strange as it sounds, he couldn't pull himself out of bed. 'This is odd,' thought Vlad. He had always been a morning person, but he just couldn't get up. Drowsily, Vlad pulled the covers off himself and sat up, putting his feet on the floor and slowly standing up.

Vlad staggered over to his dresser and rubbed a hand over his face. 'This is also odd,' thought Vlad. Instead of the usual stubble, his face was soft and smooth. Vlad rushed over to the mirror that hung on the wall. The reflection was like that of a movie. The reflection was indeed his, but it looked little like his own.

Vlad once again had his long black hair and his youthful visage. He smiled wickedly at himself in the mirror, his ice blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Vladdy's back!" Vlad proclaimed with triumphant glee.

Vlad quickly dressed but found a slight problem in his present wardrobe. All of his clothes were tailored to fit… the old Vlad. The fine Armani suits that usually cloaked the old Vlad were now far too large for the new Vlad. Looking down at his hands, Vlad saw that all he could see was sleeve.

'This isn't good,' thought Vlad.

"I need some new clothes, "Vlad stated aloud to himself. Vlad thought of the mall where most of the kids hung out, or at least that's what it seemed. The mall. 'Yes,' thought Vlad, 'the mall is a place where young people would congregate.'

Vlad dressed in the best fitting suit he had and prepared to leave when another thought crossed his mind. What if someone recognized him? There was little chance of that with Vlad in his new self, but it was far too risky and what kind of fun would it be to get caught so early in the game.

Vlad thought a moment. There was a mall close to his home in Madison. That would be safer. No one there would ever recognize him there. Getting to Madison would be a little trickier. Driving would have been easier if he was only two years older. Being fourteen sucked! Stupid Clockwork should have thought of this. 'No, no,' thought Vlad, 'this was a gift, not a punishment. It was precious and needed to be treated as such.'

It was then that Vlad fell upon his idea. Why not fly? The answer was so simple. Why not fly. Making sure that none of the servants were around, Vlad quickly transformed from Vlad Masters into the infamous Vlad Plasmius. Then, flying through the door, Vlad flew north towards Madison.

Reaching the outskirts of the busy city, Vlad Plasmius transformed once again into the fourteen year old version of Vlad Masters.

"I could get used to that," smirked Vlad, making his way towards the Oakland Mall. Weaving through the surprisingly empty walkways of the gargantuan mall, Vlad soon made his way to his usual outfitters, C. & S. Dejionarie. Vlad walked over to the store, but stopped.

If he was going to appear not only to be fourteen but also a normal fourteen-year-old, he would have to dress like one. Vlad looked down the walkway to see a group of about six teenagers talking and laughing.

Curious, Vlad watched the group until they disappeared into a store. Following closely behind, Vlad scurried over to the front of the store and saw the store sign. One word in giant neon letters glowed back at Vlad: Aeropostale. Mystified, Vlad entered the store and was greeted by sights and sounds that he had never seen before.

The whole store was filled with clothes all bearing the Aeropostale name. There were only a few people in the store, but for what it lacked in people, it was filled with unpleasantly loud music. All Vlad wanted to do was clamp his hands over his ears, but no, he had to stay. Lost in thought, Vlad didn't notice the sales associate that had come to greet him.

"May I help you sir?" asked the associate chipperly. Her voice was shrill and unexpected, making Vlad jump slightly, then, immediately regaining his cool.

"Yea," said Vlad, kind of lost in the teen store.

"Is there something you're looking for?" questioned the woman.

"Yea," replied Vlad, "I need a …," then Vlad drew a blank. What on Earth was he supposed to ask for?

When the woman saw Vlad's blank expression, her face changed into one of understanding.

"Do you need a hoodie?" she asked, trying to jog Vlad memory.

Vlad shook his head. He had no idea what a hoodie was so he didn't figure he needed one.

"Do you need shirts?" the assistant questioned.

Vlad nodded. Shirts. Shirts were important. Yes, shirts. He needed shirts.

"Yes," answered Vlad, encouraged by his nod, "I need shirts."  
"Okay," replied the associate, "I can show you to the shirts. Now do you want collared shirts, long sleeved, or tee shirts?"

'Why all the questions?' thought Vlad, 'if I'm going to be a kid, I need clothes. I don't need hoodies, I need clothes.'

"Tee shirts," replied Vlad, hoping there wasn't going to be a quiz later. 'Fashion is so complicated' he thought to himself.

"All right," said the assistant, "follow me."

The woman began weaving her way through the never-ending rows of clothes. Vlad had no choice but to follow. Finally, the woman stopped in front of a wall of tee shirts on racks, in cubbies, and on shelves. Vlad had never seen so many shirts, not even in his own closet. Vlad was barely used to the wall-o-shirts when the associate spoke again.

"Do you have a certain color you're looking for?" questioned the woman.

'Why so many questions?' Vlad asked himself.

Vlad eyed the pastel colors of the tee shirts. There had to be a better answer.

"Black," replied Vlad. He didn't care what was 'in'. There was a fine line between fashionable and certifiable.

The woman's face contorted into that of someone that had found a small, dead animal in their breakfast cereal.

"Oh no," the associate said, mortified, "black is too dark for someone like you. You need a color that would be better for your complexion or even something that matched your eyes."

'Whoa,' thought Vlad, as the woman rushed over to one of the many racks of clothes and started rapidly picking out shirts, 'since when did I become a chick.'

Soon the assistant returned with a pile of shirts in an array of colors ranging from a golden peach to a deep ocean-colored blue.

"You might want to try something like these," stated the woman, laying the enormous stack on the shelf next to Vlad.

Vlad surveyed the shirts, one by one, holding each one up so he could examine them. By the time he was done, the assistant had returned with an alarming number of pants, not only pants, but shorts and Capri's. Just like the shirts, Vlad examined each of the pairs of the pants.

Logically, he would have used a dressing room, but with this crazed associate, Vlad had no idea what would happen, if she would want to see him in his new duds or maybe make him model for the other customers and assistants or maybe something much worse.

After watching Vlad examine every piece of new clothes, the associate asked, "So, what do you think?"

"How much?" questioned Vlad.

"How much for how much?" asked the woman quizzically.

"All of it," replied Vlad.

Seeing the women's skeptical look, Vlad asked, "Is there a problem?"

"No, of course not," stuttered the associate. "It's just…"

"Good," proclaimed Vlad, "ring it up please."

Vlad met the woman again at the register and watched as she ran her scanner over the tag on every shirt and pair of pants.

"And your total will be twenty-one fourteen even," stated the assistant cautiously, as if waiting for the angry display of her newest customer.

"All right," said Vlad, pulling out his wallet and placing twenty-two one hundred dollar bills on the counter.

The woman at the register just gawked at the money.

"Is something the matter?" questioned Vlad, gathering the bags.

"No sir," stated the associate, "nothing at all."

The woman quickly put the bills in the register and gave Vlad his change.

"Thank you," said Vlad calmly.

"No, thank you sir," replied the woman.

Several hours later, Vlad was flying back to Amity Park with an innumerable amount of bags in his hands. 'If only the other ghosts could see me now,' thought Vlad as he flew over the last few buildings on the way to his Amity Park home. Having one so close to all of the action of Amity Park was unbelievably convenient and it also allowed Vlad to keep an eye on his much younger counterpart, Danny.

Upon reaching his home, Vlad phased through the wall of his bedroom, bags in hand and carefully put all of his new purchases away, including his new Hollister sweatshirt and Nike shocks.

"Being rich in the teen world is fun," laughed Vlad, turning once again from Plasmius to Masters, "I might get used to it."

New clothes in the closet, the teen Vlad sat on his bed and looked at the clock.

The digital clock on the nightstand read 11:38 p.m.

'I haven't been out this late in ages,' thought Vlad, 'maybe this is just what I needed.

The next morning, Vlad awoke to the sunlight pouring into his bedroom window. Vlad rolled over to view the clock on the nightstand. The clock read 7: 37 a.m., but he didn't care. Leisurely, Vlad crawled out of bed and made his way towards his closet. Dressing in his new clothes, Vlad walked down the stairs of the great mansion and out the front door. Vlad had things to do and there was no way he could get them done in the mansion.

When Vlad arrived in the city, he noticed that the streets were surprisingly quiet, but Vlad wasn't worried.

'Less people to bother me,' thought Vlad as he made his way down some unknown boulevard. Suddenly, a voice from behind startled Vlad. 'This has got to stop,' thought Vlad. Turning around, Vlad saw a police car with two cops standing on the outside. One was much older and the other was just a kid, well a kid in the old Vlad's eyes. The older of the two men had a megaphone and was talking into it.

"Halt," the man said.

Vlad looked around. This man couldn't possibly be talking to him, could he?

"Halt," said the man again.

Seeing no one else on the street, Vlad hazarded the guess that the police officer was indeed, unfortunately, talking to him. Vlad stopped in his tracks.

"Come here son," said the man, motioning for Vlad to come over to the car.

"Is there a problem officer?" asked Vlad, attempting a serious tone, but managing something that was nothing like his usual commanding voice. It made him feel weak. He hated feeling weak.

"Not really son," replied the older police man.

"What do you mean?" asked Vlad quizzically.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" questioned the younger cop.

'Oh crap,' thought Vlad, 'school. I have to go to school.' Now being fourteen sucked even more. The officers were waiting for an answer so he had to answer quickly.

"Yes school," said Vlad, "I have to be in school."

The cops exchanged glances.

"You're not from around here are you?" asked the younger police officer.

"No, I not," admitted Vlad. It wasn't a lie. He had only had his house in Amity Park for a few months. That was still new right?

"Do you need a ride?" asked the older police man.

"Yea," answered Vlad, before he could catch himself. Vlad followed the two officers over to their squad car and climbed in the back of the car. As the car drove down the street, Vlad looked over his life for the past few days and became more puzzled the more he examined. The two officers tried to make conversation, but Vlad was in no mood for small talk, so instead of answering their never-ending stream of questions, he simply gazed out the window.

'Great,' thought Vlad 'I've been a teenager for eighteen hours and I'm already in a squad car. This is just great.' Vlad was soon torn from his thoughts by the elder police officer.

"So what's your name, son?" the older man asked. Vlad had to think fast

"Streams," he answered, "Dimitre Streams."

"Well Dimitre," said the younger cop, "I hope you like it here in Amity Park."  
"You don't know the half of it," mumbled the teen.

Danny walked past the front office of the school and halted in disbelief. There were two cops standing in the office with a young man between them. The bell rang for first hour but he ignored it, suddenly more interested in the boy's welfare than his own.

"We found him walking the streets so we brought him in." the older of the officers stated as Danny walked into the room.

"He's not in our records," the principal stated, looking at the boy cautiously.

"I just moved here, "the young man said.

"All right," nodded the principal with understanding. "Have you signed up for your classes yet?" she questioned, as if trying to learn more about the new student.

"Of course," answered the boy, "I have my schedule right here."

The boy reached into his pocket, pulled a small piece of paper, then, unfolding it, handed the paper to the principal.

"Huh," said the principal, eyeing the paper, "it looks like you have the same classes as another one of our students: Daniel Fenton."

"I don't suppose he cold show me where my classes are?" asked the raven-haired boy.

"Actually, I think that would be a fine idea," answered the principal, then, looking up and spying Danny, she added, "don't you think so Danny?"

"Yes Mrs. Jamison," replied Danny, with no other choice. Danny moved between the two cops to meet the new student.

The raven-haired boy turned to Danny, his ice colored eyes cutting straight through Danny like a knife, halting him in his tracks.

"My name's Dimitre Streams," said the boy, his voice calm and controlled, "you're Daniel Fenton, I presume."

Danny fumbled, unable to get his words out. "Y-yea," answered Danny, finally finding his words, "nice to meet you."

"Pleasure," replied the boy with the small smile that was neither reassuring nor comforting.

"Now that you two know each other," said the principal, interrupting the awkward silence, "I suggest that you both get to your class."

"Yes, Mrs. Jamison," answered both boys in unison. With this, the boys left the principal's office and walked into the hallway.

As they made their way towards their first class, English, "Dimitre" noticed that Danny couldn't stop looking at him.

"Is something the matter?" asked Dimitre, becoming annoyed.

"Nope," answered Danny sheepishly, quickly taking his eyes off the newcomer. The rest of the way to class, Danny made sure his didn't stare at his new classmate, but there was something so familiar about him. Danny shook his head. It couldn't be. This kid had just moved here. There was no way Danny could know him. Suddenly, Danny got an incredibly strange feeling that his life had somehow become even more twisted than it already was.

At Lunch

Danny sat down across from Sam and Tucker at their usual table.

"How's everybody doing?" Tucker asked, looking at his two friends.

"Difficult," Danny stated glumly, poking at his salad, his face making it apparent that something was indeed wrong.

"Elaborate," Sam demanded as she crunched a chip distractedly.

"There's this new kid, Dimitre Streams, and he has every class with me. He's a really smart kid, even if he is a little "old fashioned", but he doesn't seem to be too bad. There's something else. I can't help but feel that I've seen him somewhere before."

"It's not like it doesn't happen Danny," said Tucker, "people move here all the time. Maybe you met him at a party."

Danny and Sam exchanged glances then transferred their gaze to Tucker.

"Or maybe he just looks like someone you saw before," added Tucker, "like the mall."

"I don't know," said Danny, stabbing at his salad again.

"Who cares where you've seen him?" asked Sam, irritated by the boys' lack of open-mindedness, "What's this kid like? If nothing else, having someone else on our side couldn't hurt."

"Well," replied Danny, struggling with the right words, "he's been really nice so far. I guess we could maybe be friends."

"See," said Sam, "there's nothing to worry about."

"I hope you're right," replied Danny with a sigh, "but still, if I need any help, you can back me up, right?"

"No problem," answered Tucker and Sam, in unison.

"Can I sit here?" asked a voice from behind the trio. Danny, Tucker, and Sam turned around to see a dark figure standing on the sideway in the wake of their table. The voice was calm and collected, but the tone had an almost icy feel to it that made Sam and Tucker want to shiver.

Before the situation could become anymore awkward, Danny broke the stunned silence of his friends.

"Sam and Tucker," introduced Danny, trying to ignore the fact that he seemed to be the only person in the whole school yard that was talking, as if all eyes were on the newcomer, "this is Dimitre Streams."

"Hi Dimitre," said Tucker nervously as if not sure herself how to react to the strange student. Normally, he probably would have written Dimitre off as a rich snob when he saw the new boy's fancy clothes that others, like himself, could only dream of having, but there was something that could only be described as different about Dimitre Streams.

"Hi Dimitre," said Sam, trying to do better than Tucker in introductions, "I'm Sam Manson and this is Tucker Foley."

"Hello," replied Dimitre quaintly, sliding into the bench across from Sam, "Nice to meet you."

There were several moments of uneasy silence as Danny, Tucker, and Sam tried to think of something, anything, to say to their new, mysterious classmate. Sam was the first to break the stillness.

"So, how long have you lived here?" she asked as she watched Dimitre eat his lunch with an almost mechanical persistence, eating as if just to finish, not like he was really hungry.

"Only a few months," answered Dimitre, putting another spoon-full of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

Sam gave a surprised face while Danny and Tucker exchanged glances. As usual, Sam voiced what the two boys were thinking.

"A few months?" asked Sam, thinking of how the school board at Dimitre's old school would feel if they knew that he had been out of school that long.

The younger version of Vlad too felt that something was wrong. A few months were an awful long time for a boy to simply be "out" of school. He had to think fast.

"Well, they had to finalize the purchase of my house before I could really move here," said Dimitre, hoping to stop the further prying from the teens, but had forgotten one vital thing…

"They?" asked Tucker, turning towards Dimitre, "your parents?"

This was fantastic. The stupid teens had come up with the answer for him. "Yes, of course," said Dimitre, bluntly, "my parents."

The question answered, Danny, Sam, and Tucker moved on to their next matter of business.

"So did you see that English test from Lancer?" asked Danny.

"Ugh," said Sam, "brutal. Four pages of essay questions. There's no way anyone could get it done in that time."

"I'm gonna die," exclaimed Tucker, pretending to smash his head into the picnic table dramatically.

Just then the bell rang, signally the end of lunch. The four friends began gathering their leftovers and threw them into a nearby garbage bin. As Dimitre stooped to grab his books, he saw the other three make their way towards the door of the school.

'Maybe this will be easier than I thought,' thought Vlad as he picked the Freshmen Biology book up from the grass by the table.

"Are you coming Dimitre?" he heard Danny call from the sidewalk.

"Yea," he answered back, "I'll be right there."

Fifth hour Biology was an interesting subject without the sudden appearance of a new kid. That Monday afternoon, the class was supposed to be dissecting frogs, and as Dimitre's guide, Danny, of course, had to be his lab partner to help catch him up.

Unfortunately, this was also Paulina's first day with her new schedule, meaning that the girl of Danny's dreams now sat two chairs away. So close and yet so far.

Danny was jerked from his thoughts by the voice that was becoming more and more familiar.

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Dimitre from their bench at the back of the room.

"We're supposed to get the frog from the cooler and the scalpels from the drawer. Then we wait for Ms. Stevens," answered Danny glumly, putting frog on the table with a soft "thump".

"Are you mad at me?" questioned Dimitre innocently, wondering what the answer would be.

Danny sighed. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just…."

"Tried of having a shadow," finished the Vlad in Dimitre, realizing for the first time what life was truly like for this boy that seemed to capture his attention.

"Yeah," replied Danny. This was all too interesting. For the first time since they had met, Vlad felt like he could really understand what his opponent was really feeling. It was unusual, like being inside your adversary's head in a game of chess, knowing things that he could never before understand.

"I don't want to be your shadow," admitted Dimitre, looking down, "but I'd like to be your friend."

Danny smiled. "I'd like that," he said.

Vlad too smirked, but not entirely for the same reason. 'Not only am I making friends like Danny said I couldn't, but I'm , unbeknown to him, becoming his friend in a way he never thought possible' bemused Vlad 'this is going to be easier that I thought.'

"So where are the scalpels?" asked Dimitre, "at least I can try to help."

Danny laughed. "Second door on the left," he stated, pointing at an already open drawer with people crowded around it.

"Oh," said Dimitre sheepishly, "thanks."

"No problem," said Danny, secretly wondering if his new found friend was firing on all cylinders while at the same time, Vlad was mentally kicking himself for not paying attention.

'Got to watch these teenagers,' Vlad thought, 'they're tricky.'

Dimitre walked over to the opened drawer and carefully removed two scalpels, placing them in his opened palm. Just then, Dash, the starting quarterback, pushed and shoved his way through the small crowd to the drawer, slamming Dimitre hard, into the counter behind him.

Dimitre let out a hiss of pain. Looking down at his hand, Dimitre saw that the scalpels were surprisingly sharp and had cut two identical gashes in his hand. At the sight of the blood, Dimitre's expression went from pain and surprise to anger and annoyance.

"Watch where you're going you big lummox!" shouted Dimitre at the back of Dash's head.

Danny immediately sat up. Did his new friend have a death wish?

Dash spun around. "What did you say to me?" he asked, in a painfully menacing voice.

'Please, please don't say anything stupid,' pleaded Danny silently willing his friend the common sense to shut up as he and all the other seated students got up and made their way towards the brash newcomer.

Dash looked at the kid again, fire and rage in his eyes. "I said," Dash stated, "what did you say to me?" Dash spoke in a tone that would have told anyone that they should just stop while they were ahead.

Anyone, that is, except Dimitre Streams.

Dimitre looked straight into the quarterback's eyes. Normally, Vlad would have given this foolish boy the names of some of his lawyers and told him to back off, but since that didn't seem to be a real option, he would just have to wing it.

"I said," replied Dimitre, standing up to his full height of five' eight", making him still several inches shorter than Dash, "I told you to watch where you were going. I also called you a lummox. Are you stupid as well as clumsy?"

Everyone in the crowd backed up, preparing for the now inevitable. Everyone that is but Danny.

Danny rushed over to the two feuding teens and stood between them.

"Stay out of this _**Fenturn**_," Dash said, already to give Dimitre the worst black eye he had ever seen.

"Why get in trouble over a new kid?" reasoned Danny, trying to dissuade thoughts of a fight that everyone seemed to be itching to have.

"Stay out of this Danny," stated Dimitre, taking a step closer to Dash. Vlad wasn't one to get in fights but he also wasn't one to walk away, especially from this stupid boy.

Danny didn't care what happened but he wasn't going to let his friend get beaten up, so when the two drew in for a fight, he had to intervene.

"No!" shouted Danny, holding Dimitre back with his opened palm, but the second he touched Dimitre, his ghost sense went off.

Danny jumped back in surprise. But no, it couldn't be. Danny could have sworn that Dimitre's ice blue eyes had just glowed red. The ghost sense. The red eyes. They both pointed to only one thing. They meant that Dimitre was a ghost.

Fortunately, the awkward silence was soon broken by the voice of Ms. Stevens that seemed to boom in the stillness.

"Is there a problem?" she asked, not at all fooled by what had been, until moments ago, about to transpire.

"No Ms. Stevens," answered Dash, instant angel.

"Good," Ms. Stevens said. Then, turning to her class, still standing around the three, she said, "everyone back to your seats."

Everyone quickly made their way their seats, but not before Dash grabbed Dimitre by the front of his new Aeropostle tee shirt and hissing into his ear.

"Don't always expect Ms. Stevens and _Fenturn_ to be around to protect you. You can't hide forever." Then, releasing Dimitre, Dash made his way back to his seat and pretended nothing had happened.

'What a pain in the…' thought the Vlad in Dimitre, but he was interrupted by...

"Dimitre, over here," said Danny, motioning to the other teen from their desk.

Dimitre trudged over to their seats and sat down in the one next to Danny.

"What was that for?" questioned Dimitre, angry that Danny had meddled, once again, where he wasn't needed.

"I was just trying to help," replied Danny, confused by his friend's reaction.

"I didn't need your help," stung Vlad venomously, "I can take care of myself."

"Listen," warned Danny, restraining himself from shouting at this mysterious new kid that showed up out of nowhere, picked a fight with Dash, and on top of that, had set his ghost sense off, "you don't know Dash. He's big and strong and crafty and…big."

"Are you afraid of a person with the IQ of a house plant?" asked the Vlad, surfacing too quickly for him to stop, "I'd have thought the great Danny Fenton would be better than that."

This was getting too weird. Dimitre was starting to sound like someone else. Someone else familiar. Danny could put his finger on it but he just sounded like someone Danny knew. Pushing his thoughts aside, Danny went back to the present topic.

"I don't know what you've heard, but I'm no hero," admitted Danny, "but I do know my enemies and Dash isn't one to be taken lightly."

Concern. Logic. Danny Fenton was revealing more and more to the fourteen-year-old Vlad every minute. Maybe there was still hope for him yet.

"Ok," responded Dimitre thoughtfully, "I'll try to remember that."

"No problem," replied Danny, still a little confused by his new acquaintance. 'Dimitre Streams is turning out to be more and more like a fruit loop with every minute,' thought Danny, casting an occasional glance at Dimitre as he quickly copied down Ms. Stevens's notes, 'but maybe I'm being too harsh. I'm sure he could be ok on the inside.'

At that very instant, Vlad was also wondering. 'Why can't you be that understanding to me as Vlad and not Dimitre?' he thought.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, but not nearly soon enough for Danny. He had to tell Tucker and Sam about what had happened in Biology. At the sound of the final bell, Danny had rushed out of seventh our study hall, grabbed his books from his locker, and sped down the hallway towards the arcade where he, Tucker, and Sam usually met after school. He had almost forgotten Dimitre as was therefore caught off guard when he ran passed him.

"Bye Danny," Dimitre had said, as Danny sped passed him on his way out the door.

"Huh, oh, bye Dimitre!" called Danny as he continued down the hallway.

'I think he figured it out,' thought the Vlad in Dimitre, as he too snatched the books he was now forced to use until he found a way to get out of this 'going to school while you're a teenager' thing, ' if only he hadn't touched me and set his ghost sense off. Stupid quarterback.'

As Dimitre walked home after his first day of school in over twenty years all he felt was alone and unappreciated. He had been close, so very close to not only getting the first real friends of his life, but finally getting Danny to accept him as a comrade, but once again, he had gone and blown it. He could have gone over all the 'what ifs' but it was a simple fact that Danny could never befriend him in any shape or form.

"If it wasn't for that stupid quarterback, I wouldn't be in this mess," hissed Dimitre bitterly, feeling the need to blame someone for his troubles.

"What about a stupid quarterback?" asked a voice from behind. Dimitre spun around to see none other than Dash behind him with just enough time to dodge the oncoming baseball bat in his hands.

"Nice move," laughed Dash, "but you can't dodge all of us."

At his words, four of Dash's football buddies stepped into view, leaving Dimitre sadly outnumbered.

'Don't I just have all the luck,' thought Vlad, just as Dash ran at him with fists flying and he tried his hardest to avoid the much bigger boy. Of course, the baseball bat came back into play as the swinging wooden object connected with Dimitre's arm.

The teenage Vlad could feel the radius and ulna bend in unnatural angles.

'Could today get any worse?' he asked himself, as he willed his bones not to snap under the baseball bat's blow.

'Don't even think of breaking,' he threatened silently as the bones, as if obeying the command, absorbed the shock. Unfortunately, Dimitre had very little time to wonder about his arm as Dash suddenly took a fervent interest in the shape of his face. Dash's fist slammed into Dimitre's left cheekbone, knocking him backwards with the force.

"Oh, I'm not done with you yet," Dash stated, picking up the teen up by his shirt.

Dimitre opened his mouth to speak as Dash jammed his knee into the boy's groin area, causing Dimitre to let out a cry of pained desperation. Dash dropped him onto the concrete laughing as the other boy crumpled in a shaking heap.

"Maybe now you'll realize that your place will always be below me," Dash hissed triumphantly as he walked away laughing with his cronies, leaving the injured boy alone on the sidewalk.

Dimitre groaned, trying and failing to stand. "This has been a heck of a day for my balls," he laughed in spite of himself, quoting his favorite mafia movie. Dash didn't know how well he understood. The Vlad in Dimitre took this as a sign that he should have listened to.

This little encounter was simply a way of telling him, Vlad, that no matter how hard he tried, there was no way he could ever be anything more than what he was, a multibillionaire with everything anyone could possibly want…yet all alone with no one to share it with.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, Vlad simply gave into the darkness that surrounded him.

"Home," he groaned as he passed out on the sidewalk surrounded by his own blood and shadows.

Danny raced down the street and through the door of the local hangout "Dean's Arcade and Comics" to meet Tucker and Sam.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Tucker, looking up from his slice of pepperoni pizza to a very out of breath Danny.

"It's Dimitre," puffed Danny, trying to suck in some air.

"Tell me about it," said Tucker, taking a bite, "that kid's kind of creepy."

"That's not what I mean," said Danny, sitting down at the table with Tucker and Sam.

"You want to tell us about it, Champ?" asked Sam sarcastically, annoyed with this runabout to the story.

"I think he's a ghost," whispered Danny, making sure they were the only ones who heard.

The reaction Danny received was less than reassuring. Tucker burst out laughing and Sam simply stayed quiet.

"What's so funny?" demanded Danny, not at all appreciative of the greeting to his news.

"Come on Danny," said Tucker, wiping the tears of laughter out of his eyes, "just because a guy's a little weird doesn't make him a ghost."

"Tucker's right Danny," agreed Sam, taking a bite of her cheese pizza, "he's different, I'll give him that, but that doesn't make him a ghost."

"Today, in Biology, Dash and Dimitre got into it," said Danny.

Tucker and Sam exchanged glances.

"That's not exactly unheard of," pointed out Sam, trying to remain open-minded.

"Not the smartest move for our friend Dimitre, but like Sam said, it's not really hard to believe," reasoned Tucker, sipping his soda.

"Will you please listen?!" growled Danny angrily, trying to get his friends to focus. Sam and Tucker turned back to Danny.

"All right Danny," said Sam calmly, "we're listening."

"I tried to break up the fight and when I pushed Dimitre away, my ghost sense went off," explained Danny.

Sam and Tucker exchanged glances.

"Maybe there as a ghost in the building," offered Tucker, "or-,"

"I thought about that," replied Danny, "but that's not all."

Sam and Tucker leaned in closer to hear Danny whisper, "His eyes glowed red just like the other ghosts."

"But the other ghosts set off the sense when they're close," said Tucker, "if he was a ghost, it would have gone off way before you touched him."

"Unless he's another halfa," reasoned Tucker.

"Great!" exclaimed Danny, "that's just what I need."

"But we can't say anything to anyone," warned Sam, "especially Dimitre."

"Got it," Tucker and Danny agreed in unison. Just then, the alarm on Tucker's PDA went off, signaling 4 o'clock.

"We've got to get back," said Tucker, clicking buttons with lightning fast speed, "Sam and I have to work on our report for Miss McAlister."

"I'll go with you," offered Danny, "I have nothing else to do."

As the three made there way to Tucker's house, they saw something or, more so, someone, lying on the sidewalk.

"Who's that?" asked Tucker as they neared the fallen person.

"I don't know," replied Sam. By the time they got there, there was no doubt as to the identity. It was none other than Dimitre.

Forgetting the conversation earlier, Danny stooped to the injured boy's side, soon followed by Tucker and Sam.

"Is he ok?" asked Sam as Danny carefully lifted Dimitre off the sidewalk.

"I don't know," admitted Danny, assessing the other boy's wounds.

"You think Dash did this?" Tucker questioned, eyeing the awkward angle of Dimitre's right arm.

"I doubt it was the tooth fairy," answered Danny, "help me."

"Where are we gonna take him?" inquired Sam, "it's not like we can take him to a doctor. The hospital is almost forty blocks away."

"We'll take him to my house," said Danny, his eyes not moving from his injured friend.

"Whoa!" objected Tucker "Won't your parents freak? It's not like we really know him and besides, his parents might be looking for him."

"We can't just leave him," protested Danny, "and my house is the closest."

"All right," agreed Sam, "let's go."

As Danny lifted the unconscious Dimitre's top half the best he could, Tucker grabbed his feet while Sam followed along beside them as the motley crew made their way down the street towards Danny's house.

"Danny should have been back by now," said Maddie Fenton as she looked at the clock on the wall for what felt like the hundredth time, "do you think something could have happened to him."

"Now Maddie," reasoned Jack as he sat on the couch, pulling the comic page out of the newspaper and threw the rest back in a stack on the end table, " I sure he's fine."

Maddie sighed. "I hope you're right," she said more to herself than to Jack.

Just then, Danny, Tucker, Sam, and the still unconscious Dimitre entered through the front door.

"Hi Mom," greeted Danny, as if carrying someone in the front door was a usual occurrence, "hi Dad."

"Hello son," replied Jack, not noticing the unconscious boy his son and son's friends were carrying.

"Danny!" said Maddie, rushing from the kitchen to greet her youngest son, but when she saw the wounded boy, her manner immediately changed.

"What happened?" she asked in her 'freaked out mom' voice that Danny was all too familiar with, "who did this?"

"We don't know," admitted Tucker, watching Mrs. Fenton examine the new boy's wounds.

"Take him upstairs," Maddie instructed, "put him in the guest bedroom while I got get some water and bandages for those cuts."

The teens did what they were told and it wasn't long before Dimitre Streams was bundled tight and fast asleep in the guest room of the Fenton family home.

With Dimitre in the more than capable hands of Maddie Fenton, Tucker and Sam decided to take their leave.

"Thanks for your help guys," thanked Danny as they prepared to once again attempt to go to Tucker's house.

"No problem," replied Sam, then, quietly, she added, "anything to get out of that report."

"Gee thanks," said Tucker, pretending to sound upset by her words. For more effect, Tucker tugged open the front door and ran into the street, filling the outside with echoes of fake sobbing.

"I better go after him before he runs into the mailbox at the end of the street," said Sam. Then, almost on queue, the unmistakable sound of someone smashing into a mailbox could be heard from down the avenue. Danny and Sam tried to hold back laughs as they heard Tucker call, "A little help here Sam."

"I better go get him before Mrs. Rodericks calls the cops," said Sam.

"All right," replied Danny, "see you tomorrow."

And with that, Sam disappeared out the door and down the now dark sidewalk to assist Tucker, leaving Danny to his unexpected house guest.

It was dark outside by the time Dimitre finally woke up. When he opened his eyes, Dimitre realized that he was no longer on the sidewalk but in a bed. Carefully, he sat up and examined his environment, not noticing the person in the doorway.

"Oh good you finally woke up," the person said in a sweet motherly voice.

Dimitre looked and saw, standing in the doorway, Maddie Fenton. The fourteen-year-old Vlad's jaw went slack as Maddie Fenton, walked over to him and started treating his wounds.

"What happened?" questioned Dimitre, trying not to stammer, but finding it impossible.

"Danny found you when he was coming home," explained Maddie, "he thought that you would be more comfortable here."

'So Daniel took the initiative to rescue me,' thought the Vlad in Dimitre, 'and brought me here, to the house of my dream girl so she could bandage be after my horrific fight. Maybe we could friends after all. At least he has good sense …and taste.'

Vlad was torn from his thoughts when Maddie said, "I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Maddie. I'm Danny's mother."

Deep down, Vlad wanted to laugh at this unorthodox situation, but not wanting to spoil this pleasant moment, simply smiled politely and let her talk. Unfortunately, it couldn't last as Maddie turned towards a distasteful subject.

"Do your parents know you've been injured?" asked Maddie, gently adjusting the sling on his right arm.

The young Vlad snorted to himself. Parents. Did his parents know he'd been injured? His parents hadn't cared at all for him as a child and even as he grew up. They had been so concerned about dinner dates and promenades to ever care about him. His mother and father had died in a car wreck the day before his nineteenth birthday, but it hadn't made him feel alone. It hadn't made him feel like an orphan. It had simply made him feel like he had won the battle, the end to the question 'will their world squash you or will their world squash them?'

But Maddie shouldn't know such things, so Vlad decided to tell her a version of the truth.

"My parents were killed in a car wreck," stated Vlad bluntly, completely unbothered by this. It had happened long ago and didn't matter anymore.

"You poor little darling!" Maddie exclaimed in horror as she cuddled the boy to her chest.

This sudden showing of affection had caught Vlad off guard, but it didn't bother him, so he simply let her hug him. This wasn't the love that he had always dreamed of having from Maddie. That love was more like the love of a man and a woman, sipping coffee in the parlor and strolling along the beach with nothing but each other. But this love… was the love of a parent to a child, reading bedtime stories and watching that Barney video five thousand times to make the tears stop To Vlad, any kind of love was a step up from the lonely existence he had endured so far.

Though cautiously optimistic, some of Vlad's cynical nature remained.

"Just imagine, all I had to do was get hurt for you to love me," he sighed.

"What was that?" questioned Maddie in her mothering voice.

"Oh, uh, nothing. I was just wondering about my arm," covered Dimitre.

"Well, it seems that you have sprained your wrist. You'll need to wear this sling for a few days so it will have a chance to heal," explained Maddie with a smile.

"Okay," agreed Dimitre. He only did that to please Maddie, but deep down, he was cursing his negligence. 'It just had to be my right arm didn't it,' he thought bitterly, but simply smiled like a fool on the outside.

Danny walked into the room and sat at the end of the bed. "How are you feeling?" Danny questioned.

"How do you think I'm feeling? I just got kicked around by Dash and all of his football buddies!" Dimitre exclaimed.

"Sorry, I just thought I'd ask." Danny mumbled standing up.

"No, don't go! I'm sorry, Danny, you're the first friend I've had." Dimitre exclaimed.

"Mom told me about your parents." Danny said pulling a chair up beside the bed.

"Yeah, I don't really want to talk about it." Dimitre mumbled nervously.

"That's fine. I just wanted to let you know I'll always be your friend." Danny stated with a smile.

"Thanks, I really need one in my life." Dimitre whispered.

"Somehow, I think we both do." Danny smiled.

Danny left the room as Dimitre fell into morphine induced sleep. He knew what had to be done, but did he really want to do it?

The next morning, Dimitre woke up to darkness. Gently rolling over to view the clock Dimitre saw the clock read 5:03 a.m. "I do not want to get up," stated Dimitre. He tried to go back to sleep but, of course, he couldn't. Dimitre looked down at himself. He was wearing the same clothes he had on the previous day and was in bad need of a shower. As quickly and quietly as he could, Dimitre crawled out of the bed, put on his shoes and coat, then left out the front door. He then ran like a mad man to get to his house in time to take a shower and get dressed again.

When Dimitre reached the Masters' Mansion, the sky was getting lighter. He looked at the watch on his wrist that read 6:23 a.m. The boy was exhausted and more than willing to crawl into a hole and die. He was tired, he hurt, and he was alone. 'Maybe Clockwork was right,' thought Dimitre, then he shook his head. He didn't want to be Dimitre or Vlad or anybody. Right now all he wanted was to go to sleep and forget about everything.

When Dimitre entered the house, he immediately went up to the master bathroom to take a long and exceptionally hot shower. As he looked at the hot water, Dimitre eyed the sling on his arm. He couldn't get it wet because he had to wear it all day and he would much rather have it dry than wet. Fingering the sling, Dimitre thought if the love he had felt and the sense of belonging. It seemed that the people he was so intent on tearing apart were in fact the very people that were bringing his own broken pieces of a life together. Dimitre carefully removed the sling and undressing, climbed into the shower.

After the shower, Dimitre went to his room and changed into his clean clothes. The clock on the wall read 7:13 a.m. "Oh no! I'm going to be late!" said Dimitre, pulling on his coat and shoes.

"Late for what?" asked a sinister voice.

Dimitre spun around and before him, stood Clockwork.

"How are things?" asked the keeper of time.

"Complicated," answered Dimitre.

"I hear you have a new name, Vlad," inquired Clockwork, "but where on Earth did you come up with that name?"

"Dimitre doesn't really have anything to do with it," explained the young Vlad, "but Streams is just Masters rearranged."

"Clever," commented Clockwork, "but you must stay sharp and alert. Despite your new found friends, remember who you are. There is no Dimitre Streams. There is only Vlad Masters."

There was so much Vlad wanted to say to Clockwork. He wanted so much to tell him that it wasn't true, that he really could be loved for who he was and that his friends would accept no matter what, but despite all he believed, there was no way to prove himself and his convictions.

Clockwork seemed to sense the teens doubt and internally smirked. It was almost too easy to sway him towards the most desired path, regardless of what he had originally believed.

"You have to realize Vladimir," said Clockwork suddenly, "that those people, your so called friends, don't care about you. To them, Vlad Masters is just a face without a heart. They know you. The person they think they care about isn't a multibillionaire. He's a made up boy that simply doesn't exist. You're disguising yourself for them to accept you, but if they find out, you'll be right back where you started. Alone. They don't love you. They love your mask. Remember that Vlad. If you do, you won't get hurt."

Vlad was speechless. With nothing else to say, he merely turned away. "Yes," he said, "I know."

Danny woke up ten minutes before school started and groaned. He quickly got dressed and ran into the spare bedroom to check on Dimitre. When he got there, Danny froze. Dimitre was gone.

"Mom!" Danny yelled.

Maddie came running down the hall. She quickly looked over the situation and smiled.

"Don't be upset that he didn't wait for you, Honey. He probably didn't want to be late," Maddie sighed.

Danny too sighed. There wasn't time to be paranoid. He needed to get to school! Danny sped down the stairs and sprinted down the sidewalk towards Casper High.

Dimitre was sitting in his usual seat in Mr. Aleris's math class when Danny snuck in through the window and crawled in between the desks until he finally reached his own.

"About time you got here," Sam whispered from in front of Dimitre who was to the left of Danny.

"I got sidetracked," Danny whispered back as the teacher continued to talk.

"Anything interesting?" Dimitre asked, giving Danny his notes to copy.

"Not really. Nice clothes by the way," Danny stated, glancing at the teen beside him.

Dimitre wore faded Aeropostale jeans and a light blue Hollister sweatshirt that brought out his icy blue eyes. To top it off, he had jet black Nike shoes with aqua shocks.

"Thanks,' Dimitre replied with a slight smirk as Danny handed back the notes. 'I told you being rich in the teen world is fun,' Vlad chuckled to myself as he went back to pretending that the monotone droning of the math teacher was interesting.

The Vlad in Dimitre had thought long and hard about what Clockwork had said to him that morning, but pretended to ignore it. Whatever had happened in the past was in the past. Right now he was a teenager again, a slightly odd teenager, but still a teenager all the same. He had the friends he had always dreamed of having and was even becoming more of a friend and less of an enemy to Danny which was definitely a plus. Vlad Masters was living that life that that lab accident had stolen from him and he wasn't going to, as they say it, 'rock the boat.' His gravy train had rolled in and he wasn't going to miss a minute of it.

Unfortunately, Vlad was pulled from his recollections by the angry voice of Sam.

"Would you two focus!" she berated from her seat.

"We are focused!" both boys hissed.

"Dimitre, Danny do you have something to add to my lecture?" Mr. Aleris asked, his light brown hair perfectly parted.

'Stupid perfectionist,' the young Vald thought to himself. He had had a similar teacher when he was in high school. Maybe it was the same one.

"No," Danny mumbled.

"That's what I thought," Mr. Aleris smirked, turning back to the chalkboard.

That stupid math teacher was getting on Dimitre's nerves. He thought he was so much better than everyone else, ruling over them like some kind of vindictive dictator. At least as Vlad Masters, he, Vlad, really was better than everyone, where money was concerned. It was almost sad how he thought he could rule a group of freshmen and seem important.

The teen Vlad was getting irritated by this Neanderthal math teacher that was wasting his valuable time as a teenager trying to teach him math formulas that he had been using probably since before that Mr. Aleris had even been born.

He didn't have all day to spend in this classroom. Dimitre had paid his educational 'debt to society'. Now he was ready to have fun, but how.

"I can't stand this guy," Dimitre groaned in frustration.

"Tell me about it,' Sam sighed, her head falling back on Dimitre's desk.

"Then let's skip," Danny suggested burying his head in his book.

"Why not," said Dimitre, getting his books together. This was just the kind of answer he had been looking for. Skip, what an excellent idea.

"I was only joking," Danny stuttered suddenly wide awake. It was day two of the great Dimitre mystery. First, he fought with Dash and now he was skipping class. He was becoming more unpredictable every day.

But Dimitre didn't hear him and was all ready standing up with his books preparing to leave.

"I don't think he is ," Sam whispered back as Dimitre grabbed his last book.

"Problem, Mr. Streams?" Mr. Aleris questioned superiorly.

"Yes, actually," Dimitre replied as Sam and Danny exchanged worried glances.

"Oh man," Danny groaned, his head hitting the desk.

"Here we go!' Sam moaned, ducking into her book.

"What's the matter?" Mr. Aleris asked, straightening his freshly pressed tie.

"_You _are the problem, you idiotic persona of stupidity," Dimitre stated coolly.

"What did you call me?" Mr. Aleris asked, his eyes bulging.

"You heard me you disgusting parasitic annoyance," replied Dimitre calmly, to the horror of the class, especially Sam and Danny.

"You belligerent child!" Mr. Aleris exclaimed at the boy's audacity.

"You moronic adult," Dimitre fired back though talking as if he were talking about the weather.

"You, you ah!" the teacher yelled in annoyance.

"No, Mr. Aleris, the vowels are A,E, I, O, U and sometimes Y." Dimitre stated as if taking to a child, taking a dramatic bow and exiting the room.

"Well, follow the leader," Sam said with a smile as she left the room after Dimitre.

"What the heck!" Danny sighed, following his two comrades.

Mr. Aleris stood in front of the class, completely dumbfounded. When he finally came to, Mr. Aleris ran to the back of the classroom. Snatching up the phone that lay on the desk, Mr. Aleris dialed the office.

"Mrs. Jamison, I have a problem," he hissed into the receiver.

"This is so cool," said Sam as the three strolled down the empty hallway.

"Shh, someone will here you and see us," whispered Dimitre. He was finally out of the clutches of the moronic math teacher, but now, unfortunately, he had no idea what to do.

"Believe me," assured Danny, ' after that stunt you pulled, a little noise is the least of our worries." Just then, the "ding" of the intercom filled the hallway, followed by…

"Mr. Streams, Mr. Fenton, and Miss Manson please come to my office," sounded the principal's voice.

"Now we're in for it," said Danny.

"No we're not," replied Dimitre, heading towards the nearest door to the outside world.

"Dimitre you can't," stated Danny, chasing after his new friend, " you'll get into trouble."

"What is the matter with you?" asked Dimitre, " Don't you want to have fun?" The teen Vlad was surprised in Danny. He thought for sure that he boy would be right at his side in their grand escape even if he had brought the annoying girl along. This was supposed to be like a bonding experience, not the opportune time for Danny to get cold feet.

"Of course I do," answered Danny, putting his hand on his friends shoulder, " but not at the risk of unnecessary trouble. We'll just go to the office and straighten this out."

'This is a switch,' thought the Vlad in Dimitre. The real Danny Fenton did have feelings. In a way it was touching and, in a way, revolting. However, this was far too interesting. Giving up his chance at freedom, Dimitre submitted to the other teen.

"All right," Dimitre said, " let's go."

Danny, Sam , and Dimitre all walked toward the office with Danny and Sam in the lead and Dimitre trudging behind them. He didn't want to turn himself in, but to appease Danny, Vlad did what he was told.

When they reached the office, they saw the principal, Mrs. Jamison standing at the front desk.

"Nice of you to come," said Mrs. Jamison coldly, " saved us the trouble of tracking you down."

'This is going to be one _long_ day,' thought the young Vlad.

"Someone's cranky," whispered Dimitre at the back of the group.

"Shh," said Sam, trying not to get in any more trouble.

"Mr. Aleris informed me that you two, Fenton and Manson, had nothing to do with this so I will let you go with a stern, _stern _warning," said Mrs. Jamison, then turning to Dimitre, she added, " but you Mr. Streams, you and I are going to have a long talk and you will serve three afterschool detentions."

"Detention!" shouted Dimitre, making Sam and Danny jump. All he had wanted was to get out of school and now he was stuck there and extra who knows how long. If Danny hadn't made them go back, no, this wasn't Danny's fault. It was his own for yelling at the math teacher and walking out of class.

"What do you think I am…four…you can't possibly expect me to waste my time in a stupid.." but Dimitre was cut off by Mrs. Jamison's, " You have a serious attitude problem that's going to get you in trouble."

"I was just telling your incompetent math teacher what I thought of him," explained the teen Vlad, thinking that the louder he yelled, the better she would understand much to the horror of Danny and Sam.

"Your opinion doesn't interest me, Mr. Streams," stated Mrs. Jamison.

"Well," said Dimitre calmly, " if you listened to my opinion, maybe your school wouldn't suck so much."

"Mr. Streams!" shouted Mrs. Jamison, completely fed up with her new smart mouthed student.

"Now, now Mrs. Jamison," chided Dimitre. "Don't lose your temper so early in the morning, you won't have any left for the rest of the day." And with that, Dimitre walked from the office, leaving Mrs. Jamison, Danny, and Sam speechless.

Dimitre, or rather Vlad, spent the rest of the day feeling incredibly afflicted . He had everything that he wanted when he was a child, except the obvious, but that was just it; Vlad wasn't a child anymore. Sure he was being childish, but he was still the powerful billionaire that everyone knew and feared.

His face was on thousands of magazines. Every man wanted to be him and every woman.. well that wasn't the point. He had what all people dream of having: cars, money, fame, but there was something he didn't have… someone to share it with.

Maybe Danny was right. Maybe he never really could have friends.

Why. Why was he so powerful, but having such a horrible time manipulating these people.

He looked down at the sling that held his arm in place, thinking of the person who had put it on him. Maybe it was because they actually cared about him. They barely knew him yet they liked him If they could except a lowly freshman with no family or real past, why couldn't they accept Vlad?

Sure he wasn't as young as he once was but that didn't mean that be wasn't fun, right?

Vlad shook his head. Why should he even care about what other people thought of him. He had money, he didn't need people. People were expendable just like things. If something happened to one, he simply got a new one. Why bother with people?

Vlad thought for a moment. Power had never brought him the love and sense of belonging that he had always longed for. His power wasn't the answer. He didn't know what he wanted. When he had started, Vlad had only meant to prove to Danny that he could have everything he wanted even Maddie. To Vlad, she was an object, something pretty you display on a shelf, but to Dimitre, Maddie was a warm, caring person. The parental love from Maddie was new and unusual to Vlad. And what of Danny…Danny was his mortal enemy and now… he was now the only friend Dimitre or Vlad ever really had.

Vlad sighed. Yes love and friendship were difficult to understand and often seems pointless, but at least it was better than the empty feeling of having all you could ever want and still be just one thing…lonely. Now Vlad knew what he had to do.

Danny walked down the sidewalk and up to the front steps to find…Dimitre? Yes Dimitre Streams, large as life, sat on the top of the stairs.

"Hey," said Danny awkwardly. What do you say to a kid that breaks up math class, escapes, bashes the principal, and disappears, only to end up on the front porch of your house?

"Hey," said Dimitre, standing up and jumping down the steps. Now he was going to make everything better. No matter what Clockwork said, Vlad Masters and Danny Fenton could be friends.

"So what's going on?" asked Danny, trying not to sound dumb or guarded.

"Listen," said Dimitre, cutting Danny's attempts as conversation, "I know I messed up today but I don't want that to change your opinion of me. I still want to be your friend,"

'Woo yooh,' thought Danny, mentally wiping the imaginary sweat from his forehead.

"And I know I need to apologize," added the young Vlad.

"I couldn't hurt," agreed Danny, finding his voice again.

"Do you think they would buy that whole medication excuse?" Dimitre asked jokingly.

"One can only hope," laughed Danny in response.

"I better go down to the school and explain," said the young Vlad.

"I don't know about that," supposed Danny mysteriously.

"What do you mean?" questioned the young Vlad, "if I don't, they'll kick me out." To Vlad that seemed like a fantastic solution to his going to school problem, but unfortunately, it was an important part of keeping up as a believable teenager and kept Danny from getting too suspicious, so he had to.

"I didn't say 'don't apologize'," explained Danny, "I meant 'not right now."

Dimitre grinned at the other teen's logic.

"They've got a new game at the arcade, I'd thought I'd check it out," continued Danny.

"Can I come too," asked Dimitre.

"Of course you can," replied Danny.

Clockwork looked onto the scene with severe displeasure. This wasn't supposed to be. Vlad was just supposed to show off for a little while to make myself feel special. He wasn't meant to make friends with his mortal enemy and play video games.

Clockwork walked around distractedly, trying to understand what Vlad was thinking. He stopped walking for a moment as a thought suddenly struck him: did Vlad want to be friends with Danny?

No, it was too humorously preposterous to even consider, yet Clockwork did.

Vlad had always been the lone wolf, why would he want to change now? Even without Maddie, Vlad had everything he could want. With all that, why would he still so interested in people? People were so disappointing and only hurt other people. No matter what Vlad thought, people weren't what he needed. If there was just some way to show him that, or maybe even make him believe that.

All Vlad Masters was doomed for was a filled with Packers memorabilia. With any hope this new interest of Vlad's was just a passing thing.

Clockwork groaned. The billionaire had a terrible knack of not letting go of old obsessions. Maybe he could see through this childish idea and finally destroy the stupid boy that was poisoning his mind with all these thoughts about friends and family. But perhaps this time Vlad had finally mastered this strange art.

Danny and Dimitre spent hours at the arcade, laughing and playing the many mindless games it had to offer.

Danny glanced over at Dimitre and smiled. Maybe this camaraderie could work out after all. Dimitre caught Danny's sidelong glance and cocked his eyebrow in curiosity.

"Something bothering you?" He asked as Danny hung his head in embarrassment.

"No," admitted Danny, "I was just thinking how great it was to have someone I share so much in common with."

"I know exactly what you mean," Dimitre stated with a small smirk.

At the same time Danny and Dimitre were playing video games at the arcade, Sam and Tucker were working on their frustrating history report for the evil Miss McAllister.

"Tucker would you hurry it up, the paper's due tomorrow!" Barked Sam, as if thinking the more she yelled, the sooner he would get done.

"Just one second Sam," replied Tucker, the keyboard in front of him clicking rapidly.

"Tucker!" Sam growled.

"Just give me a minute," insisted Tucker, buttons clacking at lightning speed.

Sam threw her hands up in agitation, stormed over to Tucker's bed, and plopped down. Why did she always have to listen to Tucker and Danny's grand schemes, but they would never listen to her. Sam was torn from her thoughts of causing Tucker severe bodily harm by Tucker's, "Hey Sam, look at this."

"Tucker if this has anything to do with your stupid blood dwarves, I'm going to kill you," promised Sam.

"That's blood elves," retorted Tucker, "and it doesn't. Come look at this."

Groaning, Sam got up from the bed and made her way over to Tucker at his computer desk. "What is it?" she asked irritably.

"Look at the word scramble," instructed Tucker, "if you rearrange the letters in 'streams' look what it spells."

Sam looked at the screen, unable to find the words. There was no denying it. Before them was a single word, bright as day …..the word was 'masters'.

"You don't think?" asked Sam, hoping she and Tucker weren't thinking about the same thing, "he couldn't have, could he?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," answered Tucker, standing from his chair, "come on. We've got to find Danny."

"Where should we look first?" asked Sam, still shaken from their new discovery.

"Danny said something today about a new game at Dean's," explained Tucker, "that would be my first guess."

With that, the two teens raced out of the room, down the stairs, out the door, and down the street towards Dean's Arcade and Comics.

Danny and Dimitre were in the middle of "Dead Run" when Clockwork decided to make an appearance. Dimitre had just run over a zombie with his sports car when he glanced into the shadows to see…Clockwork. Worried Danny would see the keeper of time, the young Vlad decided to make an excuse.

"Danny, I need some more quarters," said Dimitre, pulling a five out of his pocket.

"Okay," said Danny, pulling out a blow torch, "do you want me to pause it?"

"No," answered the teen Vlad, "I'll be right back."

Then, making sure Danny was concentrating on the game; the teen Vlad disappeared into the shadows to meet Clockwork.

"What are you doing here?" hissed Dimitre, hoping Danny and the other patrons couldn't see him and the ghost lord.

"Are you unhappy to see me?" asked Clockwork, tempting Vlad to contradict him. When Vlad didn't answer, Clockwork continued. "Still with the ghost boy?" he questioned coldly, "I thought for sure you wouldn't disregard my warning."

Vlad didn't care what Clockwork said. He and Danny could still be friends despite their history together. That was all in the past. Now the only place Vlad wanted to look was the future.

"You're wrong Clockwork," stated Vlad strongly as Clockwork bit back the urge to crush the teen's skull, "Danny does care. I can have friends. Even if you don't believe it, I do."

"Come off it Vlad," growled Clockwork cruelly, "that boy doesn't care about you."

"Yes he does," argued Vlad defiantly, "he's the only one who's ever cared."

"Have you found yourself a new boyfriend," asked Clockwork mockingly, amused by Vlad's ability to fall so easily into anything.

"No, I haven't," retorted Vlad, angered even by the suggestion, " but Danny's a lot better friend than you."

"Did I get you detention?" asked Clockwork menacingly.

Vlad fell silent. The other ghost had a point.

"You wouldn't even have been in trouble if it wasn't for that Fenton friend of yours," said Clockwork, continuing because he knew he had struck a nerve, " he's controlling you Vlad and you can't even see it. You were free and he pulled you back in. All he is doing is holding you back, thinking that he's your friend when all he is is an anchor that's preventing you from having what you want."

Vlad took a minute to digest all that Clockwork had said. He was right. Clockwork was absolutely right. Danny wasn't befriending him. All Danny Fenton was to Vlad Masters was an anchor, a fasten that kept him tied down, unable to reach anything that Danny didn't want him to. He felt like a child, a child whose mother wouldn't let him have a cookie. That cookie was the opportunity of having something greater than Danny could provide and Vlad was taking it..

Vlad peered around the corner of the nook he and Clockwork stood in at Danny. The unsuspecting boy was still playing his game, oblivious to the fact that he himself was part of a bigger one. Looking at Danny made Vlad sick in his very soul. This boy had played with the wrong person.

"I'm going to make him pay for playing me like a fool," vowed Vlad, his eyes burning with hate.

Vlad's words made Clockwork smile. This was getting too easy. Turning solemn again, Clockwork said, " Wait for the right time, Vladimir. The proper opportunity will arise soon enough."

As he watched Clockwork phase through the wall, Vlad wondered when that opportunity would arise. For him, it could not come soon enough.

Steeling himself to return to Danny, Vlad took a deep breath and emerged from the dark corner of the arcade, walking back over to Danny and the game. All the time he was walking, Vlad plotted what he could do and how he would do it to get back at the teen for leading him into that false sense of security and crushing his dreams.

'Patience,' he told himself, 'the opportunity will reveal itself.'

When Danny saw Dimitre, he flashed him a small smile. "I waited til you got back to start the next game," said Danny, as Dimitre put in his quarters and climbed into the driver's seat of "Speed Demons 2" .

'That's nice,' thought Vlad bitterly, 'that sure makes up for wrecking my life.'

"Thanks," said the Dimitre in Vlad, kicking the start button with his foot.

"Is everything okay," asked Danny, concerned by the icy tone of Dimitre's voice.

"Yea," answered Dimitre, hitting the gas petal hard with his foot.

Danny shrugged to himself. Whatever it was, it would eventually work itself out.

After playing "Speed Demons 2", Danny and Dimitre debated on which game to play.

"What about "King's Cornered"?" questioned Danny, but before Dimitre could answer, a high-pitched scream tore through the air.

Both boys looked wildly around them for the source. Dimitre looked up and saw Skulker holding a blonde haired female proudly above him. Dimitre, still looking up, tapped a clueless Danny, who, in turn, looked up.

"Oh my goodness," Dimitre gasped theatrically, inwardly laughing at Skulker's antics. Maybe this was the opportunity that he was supposed to wait for.

"Isn't anyone going to save her?" Danny pondered aloud.

"It's just a ghost," Dimitre laughed as Skulker pretended to drop the female to the horror of the crowd.

"That's Skulker! He's one of the worst ghosts!" Danny exclaimed, too caught up in the situation to pretend that he didn't know anything about ghosts.

"And who's the worst?" Dimitre questioned innocently slowly examining his finger nails, taking this as his opportunity to mess with Danny.

"Plasmius," Danny answered, too caught up to be suspicious, though the Vlad in Dimitre could hear the horror and awe in Danny's voice and knowing this bit of information, decided to take advantage of it.

"So I suppose if he randomly showed up you'd have nightmares for weeks or something like that?" Dimitre asked offhandedly, his voice unpleasantly casual.

"Yeah," admitted Danny, " he's pretty much terrifying."

"I have to go to the bathroom," stated Dimitre, leaving the crowd and disappearing into the dark recesses of the back of the arcade.

"Dimitre! Wait!" Danny called, but it was too late.

Danny ducked into a nearby janitor's closet and quickly transformed into his alter ego, Danny Phantom. Danny reemerged from the closet ready for anything, or so he thought.

"Put her down Skulker!" yelled Danny, flying up to meet his adversary.

"I suppose you're going to try to stop me?" asked Skulker with a smirk.

"You got it," Danny answered as he hovered above the ghost.

"You can always try," Skulker nodded as Danny frowned.

"What do you mean 'try'?" Danny questioned boldly.

"He means there's no way you can beat both of us," a voice from behind Danny explained, the voice brutally recognizable.

Danny spun around and his face turned the same shade as his hair. "Plasmius," Danny stuttered.

Suddenly, Danny remembered one very important thing. "Where's Dimitre?" asked Danny, looking around for his missing comrade.

Vlad wanted to laugh. Danny hadn't figured out that Dimitre was nothing other than a younger version of himself, Vlad. This was too good. Vlad almost wanted to tell him just to watch the disbelief on the boy's face and in his eyes. No, not yet.

Clockwork had given him the perfect opportunity to pay back Danny and he couldn't possibly ruin it by being cliché. Besides, Danny would find out soon enough, but now…Now was the time Vlad would make Danny Fenton sorry for making him believe that he, Vlad Plasmius, needed friends and friendship.

Friends were weak and friendship was purely an emotion. Emotions were simply followed by more emotions and emotions just made things complicated.

Vlad turned to Skulker. A threesome may be one person short of a quartet but now three people was just one too many. Vlad wanted the destruction of Danny Phantom all to himself. "Get out of here Skulker," said Plasmius, " the boy is all mine."

Skulker smiled. Not fighting Danny would make his day so much easier, but having Plasmius fight him was the type of quirky happenstance that made it good to be bad. As Skulker disappeared through the floor, Vlad turned back to Danny.

"Surprised to see me?" asked Plasmius. When Danny didn't answer, Vlad laughed. "You knew you couldn't hide forever," sneered Vlad, watching nonchalantly as the patrons of Dean's Arcade and Comics fled into the street.

"I wasn't hiding," Danny fired back quickly, " I don't hide from things that go "bump" in the night."

"Is that what you think of me?" asked Vlad, intrigued and awed by the boy's guts.

"That's all you are," answered Danny calmly.

Vlad smiled. "Let's find out," he said.

Danny started, charging his green energy into his hands, only to be shot squarely in both wrists by Vlad's red.

"You'll have to try harder than that," laughed Vlad.

"I will," promised Danny, his hands already glowing green. Danny quickly his green shots at Vlad only to watch them be blocked or simply dodged.

"You never were an equal adversary, Daniel," stated Vlad, dodging yet another glowing orb. Danny tried but it seemed like Vlad had some kind of unknown power on his side, making him stronger, much stronger than Danny.

Vlad knew exactly what it was. Betrayal. The feeling that Danny had betrayed him into believing that he, Vlad, needed friends, but he had seen through that smokescreen. He knew Danny didn't care and now he was going to take revenge on

this stupid boy that had brought his feelings out and stomped on them. Now he would pay.

Danny's hands were glowing once again as he prepared his next move, but as he did, a red ball of energy hit him hard in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards into "Speed Demons 2" that he and Dimitre had just been playing. The machine crumpled behind Danny. He quickly flew back up, only to be blasted again by Vlad's energy orbs.

As Danny crawled out from under "Bad Blood", another orb smashed into his face, slamming him into the floor. When Danny looked up, he saw Vlad Plasmius hovering over him.

"Had enough?" asked Vlad. The boy in front of him looked half dead, covered deep cuts and harsh bruises. Despite his appearance, Danny still remained fighting, even though feebly.

"What did I do?" Danny questioned weakly, "to make you hate me?"

"You hurt me," replied Vlad cruelly, "now I'm going to hurt you ." With that, Plasmius swooped down on Danny and pounded orb after orb into the boy's face and chest until Danny completely lost consciousness.

His aggressions out, Vlad flew back towards the ceiling to eye his work. Danny, no longer able to keep up his powers, turned back into his human form and laid prone on the floor. Vlad looked down at the boy.

"I hate you Danny Fenton," he hissed evilly, "you can have your friends, just leave me out of your stupid circle. Hopes may be fun to tread on for you but not for me."

With that, Vlad floated out of the ruined arcade, leaving Danny's crumpled body on the floor. Danny pried his eyes open just long enough to watch Vlad leave.

"I never meant to hurt you," he whispered before falling unconscious once more.

"I hope we're not too late," prayed Sam as she and Tucker neared the arcade. Unfortunately, they arrived just after Vlad left. Peering through the broken window, Sam and Tucker could see that Dean's was no more. Everything was completely trash, like there had been some kind of horrific battle that had gone on in it and standing in the middle of all the mess was Danny.

Sam and Tucker gasped at the condition of their friend.

"Dan…" cried Sam, trying to get Danny's attention, but Tucker's hand drowned her call.

"Shh," Tucker whispered in Sam's ear, "Vlad might still be in there." The two teens watched as their friend struggled to stand, then finding it too difficult, went ghost, and flew through the wall of the destroyed arcade headed north.

"Where do you think he's going?" asked Tucker, still confused by the situation.

"Well," said Sam, "There's only one way to find out." Both teens followed Danny as he flew to the north side of town, wondering all the way where he was going.

Vlad flew home furious with himself and Danny. He had tried so hard to be perfect for everyone and in the end, no one wanted him!

He wanted to be Maddie's husband, Danny's father and friend as well as the most powerful ghost in existence. It seemed like an attainable goal, it kept slipping through his fingers.

Danny, though, that boy tried his patience and he wasn't going to deal with it anymore. No, the boy had succeeded in destroying every dream he had. He, Vlad, wanted so little from Danny! Why was everything in his life going wrong?

Vlad landed on the terrace of his bedroom and transformed back into Vlad Masters.

"Stupid boy! Stupid woman! Stupid life!" Vlad growled as he unlocked the glass double doors that led into his room.

He sighed in relief as he walked into his sanctuary. The rage inside him was eating away at his soul, tearing him apart from the inside out. So much hate and confusion was bottled up inside him that wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for Danny.

Was it so wrong to want something better, something more substantial and meaningful?

"You just had to hurt me, Daniel. You just had to rub everything you have and I lack in my face," Vlad mourned as he looked at himself in the dresser's mirror, barely noticing the fact that he was no longer a teenager and was instead his older self.

"I never meant for it to turn out like this," Danny's voice quietly drifted through the air.

Vlad turned, his unbelieving eyes widening in shock as Danny staggered forward. Danny was a wreck! In his human form, his hair was like a black mop, dusty and used. His eyes barely seeable due to the shadows that seemed to engulf them. His clothes were trashed from the combination of fighting, flying, and walking.

"How did you find me?" questioned Vlad, astonished by the boy's tenacity, but annoyed by his presence. Danny Fenton was the last person on Earth he, Vlad Masters, wanted to see.

Danny staggered forward. "I always figured you had a house close to mine," he said, " and to answered your question, I followed you back here. I lost you a few times when you went intangible, but it wasn't too hard to find the house that could only be yours."

"What do you mean?" Vlad asked, intrigued by Danny's detective work.

"You had a Packers welcome mat on the balcony," explained Danny, smiling in spite of his exhaustion, " a little odd but very clearly you." Unable to stand any longer, Danny simply fell to the floor, lying face down on Vlad's Packer's area rug.

Deep inside himself, Vlad felt sorry for Danny and part of him even wanted to help the boy, but those feelings were soon squelched by his anger and irritation. "If all you came to do was preach to me Daniel, you can use that door and get out of here," said Vlad coldly, "that door works both ways."

In spite of the pain that it caused him, Danny sat up and looked at Vlad with pleading baby blue eyes. Vlad, however, looked down upon the boy with no pity or mercy. Danny sighed and looked at the floor.

"I don't know what I did to you," Danny sighed, " but whatever it is or was, I'm sorry."

"Vlad chuckled. "Oh, you're sorry. Child, you can't even understand what you've done! How can you expect to understand my feelings of hatred?" questioned Vlad.

"Vlad, explain it to me!" Danny exclaimed in frustration.

"Everything in life has gone against me, Daniel. I'm either going to destroy everything around me or destroy myself," stated Vlad quietly as Danny stared up at him in horror.

Vlad turned away from Danny. "Why should I bother?" he growled, "you don't care."

"You only think that because you think you can't be helped," said Danny softly, the pain seeping into every part. Forcing himself to his feet, Danny staggered over to Vlad. Placing his hand of Vlad's shoulder, Danny whispered, " You need to let someone help you."

For a moment, for one split second, Vlad was touched by Danny's words. Maybe he was right. Maybe someone could help him. Vlad Plasmius didn't have to be alone forever.

Vlad shook his head. It was all a trick, a lie, a ruse. This fourteen-year-old kid couldn't help him. No one could help him. He was Vlad Plasmius, ghost lord, and he was Vlad Masters, multibillionaire. He didn't want help. He didn't need help. Now he was going to snip that final link to that all too irritating past that he, Vlad, wanted nothing more than to sever.

Vlad knocked Danny's hand off his shoulder. "I don't need anyone," he stated coldly. Before Danny could react, Vlad spun around and slapped the wounded boy across the face. Danny fell back, landing hard on the floor.

"I don't need your help and I don't need you," stated Vlad cruelly, standing over the boy.

"Don't do this," warned Danny, "you'll regret it forever."

Suddenly, Vlad's eyes glowed red. "I regret nothing," he hissed. The elder man jumped and collided with Danny, his knees landing hard on the boy's legs, his hands tightly around Danny's throat .

"Please," gasped Danny, trying desperately to breath.

"No!" Vlad shouted, his fingers getting tighter and tighter.

Danny was trying as hard as he could but the air wouldn't come. Unable to breath, Danny simply gave into the darkness. The last thing he saw was Vlad's furious red eyes as he throttled the life out of the boy. Then everything went black.

Watching the boy's eyes close, Vlad rose to his feet, the room filled with his laughter. "You'll never hurt anyone again Daniel Fenton!" Vlad shouted with glee at the motionless form on the floor, " never again."

Overjoyed with his success, Vlad took a wild kick, burying his foot in Danny's side. Almost instantly, Danny started coughing uncontrollably, trying as hard as he could just to gasp enough breath to live.

Vlad was sickened by this spectacle. 'Now Daniel,' Vlad thought, ' I watch you die.' But as he watched the boy struggle just to live each agonizing moment, Vlad actually felt sorry for him.

The boy was no longer his nemesis. Danny Fenton was a fourteen-year-old kid that was coughing his lungs out on Vlad Masters's bedroom floor. Danny was a boy that wouldn't live to see fifteen without the help of him, Vlad.

A wave of horror swept over Vlad. He walked over to the struggling boy, then kneeled on the floor by Danny, careful not to cause him any more pain. Putting one hand under Danny's back, Vlad pulled him up with Danny's head resting on the older man's shoulder. Holding Danny's head to his shoulder with his free hand, Vlad cooed gently to him, willing the coughing to cease.

"Please forgive me," begged Vlad.

Suddenly, Vlad heard a noise. 'Does everyone know where I live?' thought Vlad, irritated at the situation, constant interruptions, and the fact that everyone was following him. Turning his head just enough to see the door, Vlad saw Tucker and Sam standing in the doorway.

"What did you do?" asked Sam.

Sam and Tucker raced over to the billionaire and their injured friend. They made quite a sight: Vlad Masters, his usual sleek attire in a disarray with his arch nemesis, Danny Fenton, lying in his arms, his head resting on the billionaire's shoulder.

The two teens were aghast at the condition of their friend. Despite the fact that the coughing had stopped, Danny still looked horrible. His face and arms were covered in huge gashes and bruises. The clothes he worn were tattered and badly torn, revealing evidence of a great fight. But what bothered Sam and Tucker the most were the large hand-shaped bruises that covered his neck and throat.

"Get away from him!" shouted Tucker, loosing his composure and grabbing his sick friend away from the man. Sam knelt by Tucker and Danny.

Facing Vlad, she shouted, "How could you?! How dare you do this to him?! All he ever did was try to be your friend and this is how you repay him?!" Looking back at Danny, Sam whispered, "We have to get him out of here."

"I'll get the car," offered Vlad, getting to his feet.

"No!" protested Tucker, "we don't need your help."

"Would you listen to me?" asked Vlad irritably, "I'm trying to help,"

"Help!" shouted Sam. "How do you call this helping?" she added pointing to Danny, "you nearly killed him."

"Let's say I had change of heart," said Vlad quietly, casting a pained glance at Danny, then looking away.

"All right," agreed Tucker, "let's go."

The drive to the hospital was incredibly tense as well as silent. Danny was cradled between Tucker and Sam in the backseat of the black Tahoe.

Vlad drove as fast as he dared with Danny's life hanging in the balance. Trying to keep his eyes on the road, Vlad mentally kicked himself. He had never meant to so drastically hurt the boy. But he had, oh how he had!

Killing Danny, he thought, was supposed to solve all of his problems, but it had only added to his ever-growing list of mistakes.

Vlad sighed as he glanced in the rear view mirror to see Sam glaring back at him. His anger immediately returned as he saw the hate in the teen's eyes. They were all so stupid humans, not at all like him and Danny.

Vlad's hands tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white with pressurized force. However, before he could destroy the two useless teens, they were at the hospital.

"I'll meet you in Danny's room," instructed Vlad in a very chilling tone, "I have some business to attend to."

Sam opened her mouth to comment, but Tucker smacked his hand over it before words could be expelled in the small confines of the vehicle.

Tucker opened the car door, half carrying, half dragging Danny behind him.

Sam slowly got out of the vehicle. She turned and looked at Vlad.

"Thank you, but if he doesn't make it, I'll never forgive you," Sam stated

"That's interesting," Vlad noted as he went to park the vehicle.

"So how do we check Danny into a hospital?" Tucker asked.

"I have no idea," Sam admitted glumly.

"Well, this always works in the movies," Tucker suggested with a sigh as Sam gave him a curious look.

"Tucker, what are you talking about?" she asked slowly, her eyes darting around the waiting room nervously.

"Man down! We've got a man down! We need help now!" Tucker yelled in his best military voice.

No more than two minutes later, Danny was being rushed to the I.C.U. and Sam as well as Tucker had been handcuffed and were escorted by security to a padded cell for questioning.

"I thought you said this always works!" Sam growled as the group walked down the opposite hall, farther and farther from Danny.

"I said it always works in the movies," Tucker corrected, then added, "Now that I think about it, this is how it usually ends up too."

"Tucker!" Sam yelled as the two were thrown into a large padded room.

An hour later, Danny was taken to a private room to rest and recover. The room was locked from the outside to prevent any disturbances. This, however, did not stop Vlad Plasmius from visiting the younger halfa.

Vlad phased through the floor, standing at the end of the boy's room as he changed once again from Plasmius to his adult Vlad Masters.

Vlad walked over to Danny's bed, pulling up a chair, and sitting down next to the boy. Simply watching him breathe was astounding. Danny had been through so much and yet he refused to give up.

"I brought you these. I'm just trying to say that I'm sorry for what happened between us," said Vlad a little awkwardly, setting the gifts down on the side of the bed.

Danny's eyes fluttered open as he looked at Vlad. The elder man looked a little worse for wear; his head in his hands, his black suit crumpled, and his silk-like silver hair rumpled and coming out of it's traditional ponytail.

Danny looked at the gifts that where set beside him while he slept and at the tormented man.

"You brought me roses? Red roses? Seriously Vlad won't the others be jealous," joked Danny with a smile.

The elder man's head shot up. "You're all right!" exclaimed Vlad happily.

"I see now you're trying to kill me with kindness," Danny chuckled, picking up one of the roses.

"No," corrected Vlad seriously, "I'm not trying to kill you anymore." Then, with a bittersweet smile, the older man added, "That's why I bought fifteen instead of fourteen; because I want to see you live to be fifteen."

"So you're going to kill me after my fifteenth birthday?" asked Danny.

"No," answered Vlad, once again serious. "From now on I will be more than happy to be your godfather and, perhaps, your ghostly teacher," Vlad offered, "if you could bear to be around me."

"I think that is a wonderful proposition," Danny agreed with a smile.

"Very good," said Vlad with a smile, "then I will expect you fully recovered by the end of two weeks."

"I'll see you then," Danny agreed.

"Two weeks," Vlad answered with a smile. Vlad turned to phase from the room but halted when he heard a slight mumble. "Daniel?" questioned Vlad with concern, walking back over to the boy.

"Thank you for finally accepting me as your friend," Danny said with a smile.

"I can only say the same to you," Vlad answered mysteriously, leaning forward and giving Danny a friendly hug.

"So," asked Danny, "where are Tucker and Sam?"

Vlad looked around the room as if looking for the two absent teens. "I haven't the foggiest idea," answered Vlad with a shrug.

Clockwork looked on at the scene with a small smirk spread across his lips. 'It's amazing how things work out in the end,' he thought to himself with a mischievous laugh, 'as long as there are people like me that make sure it stays interesting.'

As Clockwork watched Danny and Vlad talk and laugh with each other, finally friends, he was sure that it couldn't have worked out any better. 'This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,' he thought.


End file.
